Lebanese newspaper says Hezbollah is training thousands of ‘Palestinian fighters’ and working to build facilities for rocket and missile production for the Gaza terror group; Israeli Foreign Ministry issues rare confirmation: ‘Issue is regularly on the agenda.’
Hamas is trying to establish a base in Lebanon with Hezbollah’s help, which greatly concerns Israel, the anti-Hezbollah Lebanese newspaper Al Joumhouria reported on Saturday. According to the paper, over the past few weeks Israel has been trying to persuade the United Nations to address the matter, presenting the UN with evidence of Hamas and Hezbollah’s military-logistic ties under the patronage of Iran. Hamas and Hezbollah are reportedly working together to establish a Hamas military force in Lebanon, including thousands of Palestinian fighters as well as facilities to manufacture rockets and missiles. Israel’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, according to the paper, presented the UN and the UN Security Council with “intelligence information” establishing these claims.In addition, the paper said Israel was basing its claims on comments made by the leadership of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, which Israel says prove that Tehran intends to use Lebanon as a gathering site to rally the troops before it launches a war against Israel with fighters from all over the world.
The intelligence Israel reportedly presented to the UN indicates Hezbollah has built training camps in Lebanon for Hamas. The construction of the training camps was reportedly overseen by a senior Hezbollah official dubbed M.H., who is also on Israel’s wanted terrorists list.
According to the paper, Israel has also made two demands to the UN, with the first being that the UN investigates Hamas-Hezbollah ties as a violation of resolution 701, and takes the matter under advisement in a few months when discussing the renewal of the UNIFIL mission in southern Lebanon.
Israel also demanded that the international call on Hezbollah to stop its activities outside Lebanon (including in Syria, Iraq and Yemen) includes its ties with Hamas as well. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a response to the Arab report, something it rarely does. “The topic is on Israel’s agenda at the UN and is brought up regularly in meetings, official missives and speeches, both in front of the UN Secretariat and the Security Council,” it said. Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon noted that “We’re witnesses the implications of the Hamas terror regime in Gaza. Now Hamas is strengthening its ties with Hezbollah, with the approval and support of Iran, and working to establish its capabilities on Lebanese territory as well. We won’t sit idly by when faced with these threats.”

Commenting on his meetings with Merkel, Macron and May last week, the prime minister says he ‘focused on Iranian aggression in our region and primarily Iranian entrenchment in Syria’ and that the goal of reaching international understandings about the matter was achieved ‘to a large extent.’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that removing Iranian forces and their proxies from Syria “is a long process.”
“I made it clear that we will take strong action against attempts to establish a presence against us, and also against attacks on us,” Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting.
Earlier, Syrian President Bashar Assad claimed in an interview with the Mail on Sunday that Russia and Israel are not coordinating the withdrawal of Iranian forces and their proxies from the Golan Heights. “Russia never coordinated with anyone against Syria, either politically or militarily, and that’s contradiction; how could they help the Syrian Army advancing and at the same time work with our enemies in order to destroy our army?” Assad said. Netanyahu also spoke about his trip to Europe last week, where he met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and British PM Theresa May.
“I visited Europe and spoke to three main leaders there. I concentrated on the Iranian aggression in our region, on the latest developments in our region and—first and foremost—on Iran’s efforts to establish a military presence in Syria,” he said.
“The leaders agreed with the main goal that I set, and this is formulating a broad international agreement that Iran needs to leave Syria, from all of Syria. This was the goal of the trip and it was, to a large extent, achieved.”
Last month, Russian newspaper Kommersant reported that Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman and his Russian counterpart Sergey Shoygu have agreed that Iranian and Hezbollah forces would withdraw from southern Syria, and in return Israel will not interfere when Assad’s forces enter the area to fight the rebels. Lieberman himself told Ynet on Sunday that “All we’re interested in when it comes to Syria is the complete evacuation of Iranian and Hezbollah forces. Nothing short of that.”
“This is our position, and we’re having a dialogue about this with the entire international community, including Russia and the United States,” he added. “I think our position is clear to everyone, to all of those involved here in the Middle Eastern arena. When we have reached an agreement and get willingness from everyone to act to remove Iranian and Hezbollah forces, then we could say we’ve achieved our goal.”The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Hezbollah and Iranian militia fighters have reportedly returned to southern Syria dressed in Syrian army uniforms and under Syrian flags. Lieberman, however, said only “a few dozen” Hezbollah members remain in southern Syria, “who serve as advisers or goaders.”

Daniel Salami/Ynetnews/June 110/18
Syrian president insists ‘Russia never coordinated with anyone against Syria, either politically or militarily,’ adding ‘how could they help the Syrian Army advancing and at the same time work with our enemies in order to destroy our army?’
Syrian President Bashar Assad continues insisting there is no coordination between Russia and Israel on the withdrawal of Iranians forces and their proxies from the Golan Heights.
“Russia never coordinated with anyone against Syria, either politically or militarily, and that’s contradiction; how could they help the Syrian Army advancing and at the same time work with our enemies in order to destroy our army?” Assad told The Mail on Sunday in an interview.
A week and a half ago, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Iranian advisers and Hezbollah fighters were preparing to withdraw from the southern regions of Daraa and Quneitra near the Golan Heights.
The Russian newspaper Kommersant, meanwhile, reported that Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman and his Russian counterpart Sergey Shoygu agreed that Iranian and Hezbollah forces would withdraw from southern Syria, and in return Israel will not interfere when Assad’s forces enter the area to fight the rebels.
Both Syria and Israel have denied these reports.
Asked about Russian and Iranian forces in his country, the Syrian president reiterated that “The Russians were invited by the Syrian government, their existence in Syria is a legitimate existence, the same for the Iranians.”
He decried interference by Britain, France and the US, accusing the UK of “publicly support(ing) the White Helmets that are a branch of Al-Qaeda, al-Nusra, in different areas of Syria,” and adding the UK and France were “political satellites to the US.””It’s not the role of the West to tell us who’s responsible in Syria,” he stressed. “This is a Syrian issue; we decide who.”
He blamed the Western nations for the hundreds of thousands of deaths in the civil war in Syria.
“When you talk about war, the natural and the self-evident result is death and blood everywhere, but the question is: who started this war, and who supported this war? The West. The West supported the war from the very beginning, and it supported the terrorists who started exploding everywhere and killing everywhere and everyone and beheading. The West supported Al Qaeda,” he argued.
Assad also accused the West of prolonging the war. “I have always said that in less than a year we can solve this conflict, it’s not very complicated. What has made it complicated is the external interference,” he asserted. “The more we advance, the more support the terrorists have from the West… But in spite of this, we are closing the gap.”
Assad will finish his current term as Syria’s president in three years, but he said it’s too early to determine if he runs for another term. “It’s still early to talk about it… If I’m going to run for the presidency, there are two factors: First of all, will – personal will to take responsibility, and second – which is the most important, the will of the Syrian people,” he said.

IDF launches surprise exercise in Golan Heights/ مناورات عسكرية للجيش الإسرائيلي في الجولان
Yoav Zitun|/Ynetnews /June 110/18/
After last week’s massive Air Force exercise, military calls up thousands of reservists for drill in the Golan Heights, which is expected to last several days; exercise was planned in advance as part of 2018 training plan.
The IDF called up thousands of reservists on Sunday morning for a surprise exercise in the Golan Heights, the IDF’s Spokesperson’s Office said. The exercise will last several days, during which there will be an increased presence of military vehicles in the area, and explosions will be heard.
The IDF Spokesman’s Office stressed the surprise drill was planned in advanced as part of the 2018 training schedule and is meant to help maintain troops’ preparedness.
A massive Air Force exercise ended on Thursday simulating a two-front aerial campaign on the southern and northern borders, with Israeli jets battering hundreds of simulated targets. Taking place against a backdrop of heightened tensions between Israel and the Hamas terror organization along the Gaza border, the drill was intended to sharpen the IAF’s preparedness for war scenarios on more than one front. Hundreds of fighter jets and helicopters participated in the drill, taking to the skies day and night for seven days. During the exercise training for scenarios on the southern border, which was also intended to enhance air support for infantry soldiers, dozens of fighter jets practiced for rapid attacks on hundreds of targets in the Gaza Strip. The technical staff armed the planes and helicopters for the flight drills that included hundreds of reservists from all the ranks.